US lawmakers condemn Jan. 6-style rioting at Brazilian government offices

A slew of U.S. lawmakers have condemned the recent Jan. 6-style riots in Brazil as far-right supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed and vandalized government buildings. 

“I’m disturbed by the violence that took place in Brasília today,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) wrote in a tweet on Sunday. “I stand with the democratically-elected government of Brazil and condemn the violence trying to undermine it.”

“Democracies of the world must act fast to make clear there will be no support for right-wing insurrectionists storming the Brazilian Congress,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), who was a member of the now-defunct House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the Capitol, wrote in a tweet. “These fascists modeling themselves after Trump’s Jan. 6 rioters must end up in the same place: prison.”

In a tweet, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote that the U.S. “must stand in solidarity” with Brazil’s newly inaugurated President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his government, adding that the U.S. “must cease granting refuge to Bolsonaro,” who is currently in Florida. 

“Nearly 2 years to the day the US Capitol was attacked by fascists, we see fascist movements abroad attempt to do the same in Brazil,” Ocasio-Cortez said in her tweet. 

“When Americans show contempt for democracy, the contempt spreads,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote on Sunday. “Those who are trying overthrow the legitimately elected government in Brazil should be held accountable just like the traitors were here. America stands with @LulaOficial and the rule of law in Brazil.”

In a tweet, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) called on the Biden administration and local authorities in Florida to extradite Bolsonaro back to Brazil amid the chaos. According to The New York Times, Bolsonaro, 67, flew to Florida late last month as he is facing multiple investigations stemming from his time in office. 

“I stand with @LulaOficial and Brazil’s democratically elected government,” Castro wrote in his tweet. “Domestic terrorists and fascists cannot be allowed to use Trump’s playbook to undermine democracy.”

The lawmakers’ response come as thousands of Bolsonaro supporters stormed into Brazil’s Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace on Sunday in protest of the results of the presidential election that saw Bolsonaro lose his bid for another term.

The protest immediately drew comparisons to the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, in which pro-Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in an effort to stop lawmakers from certifying President Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. 

Biden publicly condemned the protests in Brazil, saying the U.S. will continue to work with Lula and the current Brazilian government in an effort to have the U.S. fully support the country’s democratic institutions. 

“Today’s attacks are exactly why I pushed for the Senate to pass a resolution backing free and fair elections in Brazil,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in a tweet. “This is about whether Brazil is a democracy or not. We stand with the country’s democratically elected government and condemn this authoritarian violence.”